REGIONAL REPORT An Update From DFI India Dr. K.S. Rama Krishna, DFI India Committee Coordinator [email protected] The 2012 DFI India Conference — Deep Foundation Technol- ogies for Infrastructure Develop- ment in India — concluded successfully. Sincere thanks to the overwhelming support and participation of the Indian foun- dation companies, foundation equipment and tools manu- facturers, testing agencies, and delegates from India and abroad. Special thanks to the authorities of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS) Chennai Chapter and the members of the organizing committee for the excellent support. Thanks for the support received from DFI headquarters, from Prof. S.R. Gandhi of IIT Madras, Prof. Buminathan of IGS Chennai Chapter and from the entire organizing committee. (The Conference was reported on in the Nov/Dec issue of this magazine, page 23.) I am glad to inform the foundation fraternity in India that DFI has initiated steps to establish the Deep Foundations Institute of India at Chennai. An informal working committee, formed locally, was taking the required steps for meeting the statutory Hollow Spun Concrete Piles for the First Time in India The new company, L&T GeoStructure (carved out of the major engineering conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro Limited), has several decades of experience in special foundations works for in-house projects. The firm has secured a variety of projects in the last six to eight months including diaphragm walls for three Chennai Metro Stations, large-scale driven cast-in-situ piles and bored cast-in-situ piles for a housing project, bored cast-in-situ piles for an industrial project, secant piles and contiguous piles for basements, ground improvement by vibro stone columns and ground anchors at many locations across India. Of particular interest is the hollow pre-stressed pre-cast spun concrete (PSC) piles job being executed for the first time in India at the proposed CSCI ACL Steel Factory Project, Dahej, Gujarat. We thank Dr. Fortune Chen of CINDA Engineering & Construction Private Limited, who has taken a pioneering step of introducing these piles in India. The piles, 400 mm (15.75 in) and 600 mm (23.62 in) outer diameter, are manufactured at Hyderabad by HBL Power Systems Ltd and transported by road to the project site, a distance of 800 km (500 mi). Four numbers of integrated piling rigs (Nippon Sharyo- NISHA, Japan) mounted with hydraulic impact hammers (BSP 357) are installing these piles to depths of up to 18 m (59 ft) below ground level. Soils encountered within the piling zone are mainly clayey silts/silty clays with SPT N values ranging from around 20 near ground level to more than 50 at the termination levels. Pre-cast piles have a great potential to accelerate construction in Installation of hollow spun concrete piles at Dahej India. Hollow pre-cast spun concrete piles are very cost effective and would make the driven pre-cast piles very attractive for any project, from a house to an ultra-mega power project. India needs such solutions to speed up foundation works. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2013 • 29 requirements such as registration of DFI India, with a target to complete the formalities before the close of 2012. DFI India would provide a platform for continuous interaction of all stakeholders of the Indian foundation industry including international agencies who have India as a business focus. DFI India would endeavor to conduct seminars, workshops, conferences, training, etc., keeping in mind the needs of the Indian foundation industry. To achieve some of the goals of DFI India, such as implementation of new technologies, training of frontline staff of foundation works, supervising engineers and design engineers, efforts are being made to work closely with other professional organizations/institutions such as Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS), reputed academic institutes, etc. The lackluster world economic situation has had an impact on India. The buoyant activity experienced in the construction industry around 2007 is sadly missing. We hope this gloomy situation will not last long, thanks to several measures initiated recently by the government of India to boost the growth of the Indian economy. The construction industry is expected to gain momentum in the next 6 to 12 months. We expect many stalled projects to see the light of the day and create a demand for new foundation equipment and technologies. Notwithstanding the current scenario, it is heartening to hear from a few Indian foundation companies that there are some interesting projects and achievements to report.
